Two at the Most
by Andra-ggfan
Summary: Rory wakes up in the one bedroom she never thought she would. Jess's. Apparently things happen when there are one too many Martinis involved. Post-finale Literati.
1. I like a Martini

**A/N: I'm procrastinating from studying for my exams and crap like that and it occurred to me that I've been doing these really depressing one-shots lately. So I decided to write this. Unfortunately, it happened to reach about 20 pages before I knew it so now it's a chapter story. Review? **

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**I like a Martini**

The first thing Rory Gilmore realized as she woke up that morning was how much she had missed waking up in a room that just _smelled_ like books.

The second was that this was, most definitely, not her room.

The third one was that there was a man's t-shirt hanging from the back of a chair.

And as the headache hit, she crashed back on the pillow, watching the ceiling spin ever so slightly.

* * *

The night before.

"There's more press. No, no, no, no, no!" The young man shook his head, trying to calm himself down. "Chris, did I not tell you not to ask anyone else from any newspaper, magazine, whatever without running it by me first?"

"I didn't." The other guy lifted his hands in the air.

"Jess! Did Jess…?" He took a couple more breaths, picking up a beer bottle and opening it quickly. "He wouldn't, though, would he? I mean he'd at least tell us."

"Yeah, he would."

"So why is there this chick with a press badge around her neck walking around, looking at books?"

"I have no idea. But hey, here's a thought. Did it occur to you to ask her?"

"And say what? Hey, lady that is probably here to review us for something that other people read, would you mind telling me who the hell asked you to come, since we didn't? Don't take this the wrong way, we're really happy you're here to represent whatever the hell you're representing, but I'm just curious." He chuckled, taking a swig out of his beer. "She looks familiar though, but I can't really place it…" Sighing, he watched his friend as he poked his head from behind the bookcase, looking around the room.

"Brunette in the jeans and blue top?"

"That's the one."

Turning around again, Chris shrugged. "Yeah, she does. Man, now it's gonna bug me."

"You think Jess knows anything about her?"

"Don't know. But since he's out getting more alcohol for the pretentious people, our choices are to wait or go talk to her. And since she is press, we really don't want to leave her alone, do we?"

"Probably not." Straightening his back, Matthew put a big smile on his face before walking to her, with Chris following behind him. "Welcome to Truncheon. I'm Matthew, this is Chris…" He pointed to his friend, smiling. "How are you finding everything tonight?"

"I'm…uh…good." She smiled, hesitating. "Thanks."

"Anything we can get for you?"

"I'm good." Picking up a book from the shelf, she started leafing through it. Elbowing his friend, Chris motioned with his head towards her.

"I'm sorry, this is going to sound awfully bad and I really hope you don't hold it against us or anything, but what magazine are you with?"

"What? Me? I'm not with any magazine. Well, technically I am, but I'm off-duty. I have no official business here. Just…came to see an old friend. That's it."

"So the press badge?" Chris pointed at the lanyard around her neck holding the paper. "Wanted to give us a heart attack?"

"No." She laughed, shaking her head. "I forgot about it." Quickly taking it off, she dropped it in her purse, smiling. "Better?"

"Fuck, yeah." Extending his arm, Chris smiled. "Since you're not looking for me or him, I suppose this is the time when we inform you that Jess has gone to the store to pick something up and will be back shortly. Unless you're here because you wanted to see our web-designer, in which case, tough luck, we fired him about three months ago, but I'm sure you can find him in whatever ditch I hope he dropped dead."

"Chris…" Matthew threatened, glaring at him.

"Sorry, I tend to be rather passionate about the issue. So, Jess, right?"

"Yeah." She mumbled, blushing slightly. "We're friends. Were. A long time ago." She mumbled, unsure.

"Oh, God, you're not here because you're pissed off at him that you guys slept together and he never called and now you're planning an enormous fit here, are you? Because really, there's more than one person that works here and you'd really be ruining it for all of us, not just for him, and while he may be a jerk, we're not. Promise." The young man rambled, making her blush even harder.

"What? No. No!" She repeated, shaking her head vehemently. "Just friends, that's all. I'm not going to ruin anything. Why, does it happen often?"

"What?"

"Women he's…slept with" She sneered slightly as she said the words, unsure as to why the thought was annoying her so much. "…dropping by to yell at him in the middle of an open house?"

"No. Well, once. And, in the interest of fairness, I was responsible for the mess, not him. It has however scarred me for life." Chris shrugged as Matthew covered his mouth with his hands, realizing where he knew her from.

"You ok there?" Rory asked and he nodded.

"Just…have to…Chris!" Grabbing his friend, he started dragging him away, leaving a confused Rory alone to start perusing the books once more.

"She's Rory! Jess' Rory. Made him mope around the place for a week straight last time she was here Rory."

"No. Fucking. Way." Chris shook his head, glancing at the young woman again. "Fucking hell, you're right."

"What do we do?" He started pacing but his friend put his hands on his shoulders, stopping him.

"Nothing. They're grown ups, she's not here to cause a fight, it will be fine."

"You want to deal with sulky Jess?"

"I want to stay as far out of this as I can." Chris shrugged. "Now stop doing that and go talk to someone. Jess should be back soon, he'll handle it."

"And if he doesn't?"

"We'll kill him and shove his body in that piece of crap duffel bag that he still has lying somewhere around the place." He shrugged again, chuckling before leaving the other man alone. After checking to make sure Chris had started talking to someone else, Matthew walked up to Rory again, holding a fresh bottle of beer in his hand.

"Here." He handed it to her and she took it, nodding gratefully.

"Thanks."

"You and Jess…go way back, right?"

Biting her lip, uncomfortable, she made a small non-committal noise, trying to give herself time to think of a good answer.

"I mean, you knew him in high school and all that, right?"

"Yeah, I did." She confirmed.

"Any dirt you're willing to share on him would be…" Matthew started saying, only to realize that the young woman had spaced out halfway through the sentence, her eyes staring intently at the man who had just walked through the door, a couple of paper bags in his hands. "Old friends my ass." He muttered under his breath, soft enough for no one to hear as he watched his co-worker make his way to them.

"Hey." Jess almost whispered, his eyes not leaving Rory's.

"Hi."

Taking the bags away from Jess, Matthew tilted his head towards the drinks table. "I'm just gonna go…" Realizing that both of them where ignoring him, he shrugged, trying to keep himself from laughing before heading away.

"So…" Jess whispered after a couple of minutes, chuckling a couple of times. "Somehow standing around like idiots seems familiar."

"Yeah, it does." She smiled as well, relaxing visibly. "How've you been, Jess?"

"Good. Busy. This." He lifted his hands, motioning around them, still looking at her. "You?"

"Not bad. Work."

"The Obama thing?"

"Luke?"

"Yeah." He nodded, confirming the source of his information. "Enjoying it?"

"Best job in the world." Rory smiled, nodding.

"Jess, some guy wants to talk to you about your book." Chris walked up and Jess looked at him, the magic of the moment broken by the other guy's intrusion.

"Which guy?"

"Glasses and corduroy, god help us all."

"Ok. Tell him I'll be with him in a minute."

"Sure." As soon as he headed off, Jess found Rory's eyes again, an apologetic look in his.

"I have to go take…"

"Go!" She interrupted him, grinning. "Do your thing."

"You'll be around?"

"I'll be around." She confirmed, nodding again.

"Good. We can catch up."


	2. Two at the very most

**A/N: Gosh, everyone *blush*. Thank you so much. I probably should have clarified though that this story is only going to be 4 chapters long, which I hope won't be disappointing. Thank you again. You're all very sweet.**

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**Two at the very most**

"Morning, sunshine." A gruff male voiced called at the same time as the smell of strong coffee filled the room.

"Fuck." The word escaped her lips, and the man chuckled a couple of times, his footsteps getting closer.

"Didn't think I'd ever hear_ that _come out of_ your _mouth." Standing at the side of the bed, he looked down at her, a giant smirk on his face. "You're going to have to open your eyes if you want coffee."

"I'm good." She replied, squeezing her eyes even tighter together.

"Suit yourself, but I've got ibuprofen."

"Gimme." She extended her hand, making him laugh again.

"You've gotta sing for your supper. Or sit up for your drugs, as the case may be." Placing the two mugs on the bedside table, he pulled the chair closer, turning it around and flinging the t-shirt to the floor in the process, before sitting down.

Opening one eye, she looked at him, the same unruly black hair that she remembered falling down, too early for it to be gelled up.

"There is absolutely no way in hell this is all a bad dream, is there?"

"I'm sorry, but how the hell is someone bringing _you_ coffee in bed a bad dream?"

"When I've been trying to remember what the hell happened last night since I woke up. Unsuccessfully."

"Aw, you mean you forgot all about last night?" Trying to stifle his laughter, he picked up one of the mugs, watching her as she shot up in bed, eye wide open. "Should have listened to Dorothy Parker's warning about Martinis, huh?" Smirking, a playful look in his eyes, he watched as she grew even more panicked. "Have some coffee. It'll help spring back the memories."

"Just confused if I stopped at three or four…" She admitted, biting her lip before picking up the coffee up, taking a big gulp. "Strong coffee. Good."

"Just like my Martinis, evidently."

"God, my head is pounding."

"So much so that you're mistaken me for God. Flattering, don't get me wrong, but I prefer to reserve that title for special occasions. I still go by Jess in real life." He chuckled, waving the bottle of ibuprofen in the air. "So?"

"Sitting up, eyes open, give me!"

"See? So much easier when you cooperate." Seeing her glare at him, he threw her the bottle but she didn't react in time, letting it fall in her lap. "You catch like a girl."

"I am a girl. It's in the genes or something." She offered a weak smile as she opened the bottle with one hand, trying to juggle everything. Extending his free hand, he picked up her coffee cup, and she nodded gratefully before swallowing a couple of pills, taking the cup back from him and washing them down with coffee.

"I'm sure doctors would frown upon that, but I really do not care."

"I won't tell." He smiled, sipping from his cup again. "Hope your headache gets better."

"Thanks." As a memory of the previous night flashed through her head, she blushed furiously, lowering her head.

"Oh, God."

"No, really, it is Jess." He smirked again, making her shake her head. "What's wrong?"

"I just…uh…remembered something."

"Was it ripping my clothes off?" He looked pointedly at the t-shirt on the floor and more blood rushed to her cheeks. Screwing her eyes shut, she started mumbling something under her breath. "I didn't catch that." Jess chuckled, looking at his almost empty mug.

"I was clicking my heels."

"Did it work?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Aw, you hate me that much?" Jess laughed and she looked away from him again, shaking her head.

"I…uh…no…and…just shut up!" She finally sighed, downing half of the coffee left in the cup. "Act faster, damn you." Realizing something, she looked down to check, lifting the blanket as subtly as possible. "If we…you know…why am I dressed?"

"I have weird fetishes."

Laughing at his remark, despite her embarrassment, she bit her lip again. "I have to admit, not being naked makes it the slightest bit better. But, for the record, I hate you for being so functional after a night of drinking."

"I've had a lot of ibuprofen. And coffee."

"When did you become a morning person?"

"When it's almost lunchtime. And I'm woken up by someone sitting on the couch I'm sleeping on." Jess shrugged, dropping his now empty mug back on the nightstand.

"Wait, you slept on the couch?" Rolling her eyes, she glared at him. "Jess, did we sleep together or not?"

"No." He laughed, shaking his head. "But I am slightly hurt by you thinking I'm this easy to forget."

Blushing even harder, she looked down, biting her lip. "I didn't mean to…"

"Imply that I am so completely unmemorable?"

"That." Lowering her head, she stared into the coffee cup, still hoping she was in a bad dream. "I'm sorry."

"'S ok." Standing up, he peaked at the almost empty mug in her hand. "I'll go bring more coffee."

"Bless you."

* * *

The night before.

"Stop reading that damned thing."

Jumping slightly when she heard his voice, she turned around on her heels, dropping the book back on the shelf in the process.

"Just wanted to see if anything was different in this edition." She smiled.

"Beer?" Jess offered her a bottle, the first one long gone, and she took it, grabbing the bottom, trying to carefully avoid his hand holding the neck.

"Thanks."

"Sorry about leaving you alone for this long…"

"Don't worry about it." She stopped him, shaking her head. "I can amuse myself. There are books around, there's no possibility of me getting bored."

"Really? 'Cause I can send Matthew over to tell you his stories about summer camp. You'll be wishing you were dead in no time."

"On second thought…" She laughed, shaking her head. "But seriously though, do whatever you have to do. I'll be fine."

"Things seem to be tapering off anyway, everyone will leave for the bar in about ten minutes. It's usually how these things go."

Finally looking around her she realized that the room was significantly emptier than it had been when she'd walked in. "You'd think I would have noticed everyone leaving."

"I've seen you walk into walls before while reading, this isn't unusual." Jess smirked, sipping from his beer. Tilting his head towards a couch, he looked at her and she shrugged.

"You said everyone's heading for a bar soon? Shouldn't you go with them or something?"

"Little bit of info. Half of the people in this room are poets. The other half are painters. They're the only ones that stay this late at anything, mostly because their art…" Rory laughed at the blatant quotes he'd stressed around the word as he continued his thought. "…requires them to be completely wasted and the alcohol here is free. Of all the people in the world I want to spend an evening with, drunk poets and painters are at the very bottom of the list. Seriously, Torquemada would be higher."

"I didn't think I'd be too high on that list either." She bit her lip, looking at him, angry with herself for having ruined the almost friendly mood as soon as she finished the sentence.

"Don't fool yourself, you're not worse than the Spanish Inquisition." He forced a smirk again, trying to save the conversation. "Though just as unexpected."

Laughing, Rory shook her head. "I probably should have called before, shouldn't I?"

"Dropping by's still cool."

"Good to know." She smiled, heading for the couch, with Jess following behind. Sitting a safe distance form her, Jess drank from his beer.

"What are you doing in Philly anyway?"

"Campaign trail. I Googled Truncheon, saw you were having an open house, decided to see what it looked like."

"Pretty much the same." He shrugged, smirking.

"I've noticed."

"Though we do own the bar that they're going to." He pointed at the people heading out, waving quickly, shaking his head at his friends' questioning looks.

"Seriously?"

"Well, us and the bank. Mostly the bank." He shrugged, grabbing another beer from the table, examining it to make sure it was still cold enough before twisting the cap off. "Don't gush over it, it's not that impressive." He warned jokingly and she laughed.

"It's still somewhat impressive. What's it called?"

"Redux."

"What?" Rory looked at him, slightly confused, trying not to burst out laughing again.

"Matthew wouldn't back down on calling Cedar Bar Redux. That was the compromise."

"Too bad Vonnegut's dead, he could have given you some free publicity."

"We're not that ambitious. Being mentioned in anything would be good." He smirked, looking around, noticing they were alone. "I'm glad you Googled us. It's good to see you." He admitted, his smirk turning into a real smile for a couple of seconds.

"You too. You look good."

"Now, now, Miss Gilmore, there's no need to lie."

"I'm serious. Maturity becomes you."

"And you're calling me mature. The blows keep coming." He smirked and she giggled, shaking her head.

"Don't worry, you don't look a day over forty."

"You're just trying to get yourself kicked out." Jess laughed, pointing with his beer at the door and Rory lifted her hands.

"Sorry."

"Oh, you do sound like you mean it." He remarked when she dissolved into a fit of giggles, smirking as well.

"I do. Really."

"Sure you do." Noticing her bottle was getting empty, he grumbled, standing up. "Wise idea to get the small ones, that was." Looking around the room, he shrugged, turning back to look at her. "We seem to be out of beer. Anything else I can offer you?"

"Jess, I'm good, don't worry about…"

"We have vodka, rum…" Picking up a bottle of wine, he shook his head when he saw it was empty. "No wine. Probably some abandoned scotch somewhere. Unless you have to go?" He realized, fixing his eyes on her again but she shook her head.

"Nah, I'm off duty tomorrow. Don't think the receptionist is keeping track of what time I get in. Unless you have something else to do?" She countered and he shook his head.

"Vodka or rum?"

"Whatever."

"The only other thing around is vermouth. Martinis it is." He shrugged, smirking before making two drinks, thankful to find the ice in the bucket still not melted. As he handed her one of the glasses, she nodded gratefully.

"Who was the guy in tweed?" She smiled, making a face as she sipped from the drink. "God, are you trying to kill me?"

He picked up his glass again, taking a small sip. "Seems fine to me. Guy in tweed was a professor at Penn."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. We talked. A bit stuffy and you two would have probably gotten along better, but not all that bad."

"Are you implying that I'm stuffy?"

"Nope, just that you're more used to talking to professors than I am."

"That I'll take. He was interested in your book?"

"He's clearly a moron." Jess chuckled, nodding.

"Modesty doesn't become you. Arrogance is better."

"I'll keep that in mind. He said he read it, we chatted about it for a bit, that's all."

"Jess, that's fantastic."

"It is pretty cool, isn't it?" He let himself be happy about it, smiling as he looked at her.

"Next thing you know, your book will be part of every Ivy league literature course."

"Maybe I did make the Martinis too strong." He chuckled, sipping from his glass again. "So what's new with you?"

"Other than the fact that I've been traipsing the country for a year now, nothing really."

"Really?"

"All quiet on the western front. You?"

"Working my ass off. About it, really."

"We're both very exciting. Already out of things to talk about."

"Dreadful weather we're having lately, isn't it?" He smirked.

"How about the…" Squeezing her eyes shut, she giggled. "…local football team?"

"Eagles?"

"Damn it, I knew it was a bird."

"Hey, I went to a game a few months back."

"How very all American guy of you."

"Trust me, it was very much against my wishes." Jess chuckled again.

"Girlfriend drag…" Stopping mid-sentence, Rory shook her head. "Sorry, that's none of my business."

"Chris dragged me. Not the guy you were talking to earlier, the other one, who I'm going to guess had to butt in as well at some point. Sorry, introduce himself." He tried to explain, amused by her discomfort.

"Yes, dead web-designer guy."

"I think he'd actually be proud of that title. He's a football fan, for whatever reason."

"Insanity, I'd assume. Like every other sports fan."

"I think that's a fairly accurate deduction. Though I do remember you going to a hockey game in high school, so you may just be hiding your true passion."

"Got me." Rory grinned, putting her empty glass on the table. "I subscribe to the eating style, nothing else."

"More?" He pointed at her glass and she nodded, shrugging one shoulder.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get me drunk."

"Huh. What makes you think I'm not?" He laughed, standing up and making new drinks.

"I assume you have no interest in it."

"I don't know, there's got to be some hoodlum points to be won by getting the goody two-shoes drunk."

"Jess, I'm not exactly in high school any more. I've been drunk before. There was a very unfortunate incident involving some punch on spring break a few years back."

"You did spring break? Wow, I'm seriously out of the loop." He smirked before handing her the glass and taking his seat again.

"Don't get too excited, I spent most of the time watching _The Power of Myth_."

"Leave it to you to party with Moyers and Campbell instead of real people."

"Paris was there, though I'm not sure if she counts as real people. But there was some partying." She admitted, taking a small sip from her drink. "And that's all I'm going to say about that."

"Tease." Jess smirked. "Have you read _Snuff _yet?"

"Not bad, but _Fight Club_'s still better."

"Oh, come on, seriously? You too?"

"You're on. _Choke_?"

"_Survivor_." He shook his head disapprovingly as she started ranting about the books.


	3. After three I'm under the table

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. **

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**After three I'm under the table**

Walking back in the room a few minutes later, the now full cups in his hands, Jess took his seat again. "Any more memories flash back while I was gone?"

"I'm going through the night chronologically."

"Did you get to any of the good parts yet?"

"I assume you don't mean you being an idiot when it comes to Palahniuk, do you?"

"Not really."

"I remember bits and pieces of everything else, I just…wish it was less fuzzy."

"I can fill you in on the details."

"I'm good." She smiled, sipping from the coffee cup. "I'll get there."

"I can make food if you think that'll help the process."

"Food always helps."

"Ok then. Any preferences?"

"Anything. My body is seriously hating you for the hangover right now, you need to make it up to me."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Can I grab a shower while you cook?"

"Sure." Jess looked at the door, drinking some more coffee. "The bathroom is outside however and you may have to face the other two hungover stooges."

"I'll take my chances."

"Hey, I had to warn you." Standing up, he opened the dresser, picking up a towel. "I think this is clean."

"Reassuring."

"It's generally a pretty safe bet that anything in here is clean." Throwing the towel next to her, careful not to hit the coffee cup, he smirked. "You do have to stand up if you want to shower."

"I'm trying." Rory pushed herself up, still holding the coffee in one hand. "Not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Come on." He smiled, waiting for her to grab the towel and walk out of the room before following. Placing his hand on the small of her back, he guided her towards a door, pointing with his coffee cup at it. "Over there. You should find everything easily. There are some spare toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet."

"I'd mock you for that, but I'm too busy being grateful." She smiled at him.

"Go. I'll have food ready when you're done."

"Matt, you owe me twenty dollars!" Chris called as he walked in the room, smiling at Rory. "Good morning."

Blushing, she looked away from him, mumbling something and Jess glared at him, trying to keep him quiet.

"Go." He smiled at Rory quickly and she nodded, rushing in the room.

* * *

The night before.

"His work has given rise to an adjective and you're criticising him?" Rory stared at him in disbelief.

"What does that have to do with anything? I'm just saying _Millennium People _was terrible."

"And I'm just saying you're insane. Not his best book by a long shot, but still not deserving your insults."

"Coming from an Ayn Rand worshipper, I'm not too worried about _my_ judgement."

"I cannot believe you brought that up."

"Really? 'Cause to me it sounds like the kind of thing I'd say." Jess laughed, picking up their empty glasses. "Fuel to defend your insanity?"

"Sure." She nodded quickly, still angered. "Also, there is no way in hell you're getting off that easily. What is wrong with Rand?"

"How long have you got?" Jess shot back, standing up and heading for the table again, only to find the ice melted. "This doesn't look promising."

"What's the matter?"

"Ice's unfortunate habit of turning into water."

"Oh."

"There's more upstairs." He shrugged, turning around to look at her.

"There's an upstairs?"

"Did you think the stairs are here for décor?"

"Just…" She stammered, blushing. "…Don't know, figured there are offices or something."

"I took notes from Luke, I live above my workplace. Makes for an awesome commute." He shrugged, picking up the ice bucket. "I'll go bring more."

"Oh, can I come?" Rory asked enthusiastically and he looked at her again, confused.

"You think it's a two person job?"

"No, I just want to look at your book collection. I've always wondered what it looked like."

"It's flattering to know you spend your time thinking about me." He replied, smirking as he motioned for her to follow him up the stairs.

"Not you, your books." She shot back as she started following him, the alcohol making her head buzz slightly. Reaching the apartment, she stopped, looking around at the small but cosy living room. "Not what I expected."

"You had us pegged for the black light poster kind of people?"

"It's just very clean."

"Matthew has his moments. Usually when he's avoiding work. We let it slide." Jess smirked, pointing at a door. "My books are through there. Warning, that place doesn't get cleaned often."

"Often?"

"Ever." He admitted with a smile, heading for the kitchen. "Go ahead, I'll be in in a second."

"Ok." Happy with his offer, Rory opened the door, her eyes immediately settling on the bookshelves covering one of the walls and the stacks of books under the window. Ignoring the clothes strewn all over the floor, she walked to one of the piles, running her fingers over them before picking a book up, leafing through the pages rapidly.

"I think I may have died and gone to heaven." She announced a few minutes later, hearing Jess fake cough behind her.

"Nice to know my bedroom's heaven, that's got to be a good pick up line."

"Only if you die and wind up in the 70s."

"Stranger things have happened." He smirked, handing her a glass. "Does it get your approval?"

"Approval? I'm thinking of killing you and telling everyone you've left the country and I'm your replacement."

"You'd have to work on it, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard." He looked her up from head to toe. "How are the acting skills? Because if you're good, you may even pass for me. Matt and Chris tend to be either drunk or hungover often, it shouldn't be too much of a challenge."

"And you're not?"

"We own a bar, it's part of the job to keep encouraging people to drink. Usually by drinking with them." He shrugged, laughing as he looked at the glass in his hand.

"Is that what you're doing?"

"Yes. I'll start charging you after this one."

"Better make it last then." She smiled back at him, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear with her hand.

"I'm sure I can be convinced to give you some kind of old friends deal."

"Good to know. Could you also be convinced to tell me why you of all people have a collection of Shakespeare's sonnets?"

"Some random person gave it to me. For some reason people hear books, they think Shakespeare."

"And you kept it because…?"

"Random person kept coming over and she would have made it a big deal out of it not being here any more."

"Right." She nodded, understanding what he was trying to say.

"I never got around to giving it away after she stopped visiting."

"Ok." She nodded again, her smile reappearing on her lips before she sipped from her drink, turning around to look at the books again. "Seriously though, your books are amazing."

"You can borrow anything you want."

"Don't tempt me, I'm leaving in a week."

"So? I'll just get them back at Luke and Lorelai's wedding."

"How about I take a couple and return them to you before I skip town? I'll see if you're still this generous without alcohol in your system." She giggled, turning to look at him again.

"Careful, I might think you're trying to devise some sort of plan to see me again."

"And if I was…?" She asked with a teasing edge to her voice and he smiled, taking a small step towards her.

"I'd probably be curious why."

"Because it's nice to have a discussion about literature with someone who knows what they're talking about, even if they have horrible taste."

"I'm hurt."

"You have to admit, the number of books we agree on is much smaller than the ones we disagree on."

"I'm not arguing the sentiment, just wondering why that means _I_'m the one with horrible taste."

"It just does." She laughed, making him smirk. "Do we have a deal on the books issue?"

"We have a deal. Take whatever you want."

"You should not have said that."

"I'll take my chances." Jess smiled, drinking from his glass.

"Flaubert?" She made a face, turning around to look at him after a few minutes and he shrugged in reply.

"Random person."

"Same random person?" Rory asked, picking up another book.

"No." Jess shook his head as he sat down on a chair, holding the glass in his hands. "I'm not sure what's with everyone's obsession with the classics."

"Maybe you strike random people as a classics fan."

"That's just mean."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you." Rory laughed, picking up another book and putting it on top of the small pile. "This is better than Christmas."

"When you come back to return those, remind me to show you all the piles downstairs."

"More books?"

"It is a bookshop of sorts. Having books is the prerequisite."

"More than the ones I saw?"

"No, but if you get here on a normal weekend, you can browse in peace."

"Is that your attempt at drumming up business?"

"Hey, I'm not going to not take the chance to double our quarterly sales. I can even be convinced to point out my favorites."

"Aren't you supposed to like all of them?"

"No." Jess shook his head. "We fight for days over what we publish. Don't get me wrong, they're all really good books but some are better than others."

"Ok. I'll buy you coffee in exchange for you playing favorites, is that payment enough?"

"Probably." He smirked.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Have you written anything new? I'm waiting for the next book."

"Me too." He pointed to a trashcan filled with crumpled paper. "I'm mostly doing short stories these days."

"I've read a few." Rory admitted, biting her lip. "Google and all that."

"Huh."

"They were good."

"Thanks." Jess smiled, uncomfortable with the conversation. "It's something to do."

"Well…keep doing it. Or whatever the appropriate thing to say is." She laughed.

"That works." Jess stood up, looking through the stack of books she had selected. "Sometimes, you show so much potential when it comes to your taste in books."

"You want to start that fight again?"

"Always." He smirked.

"I missed talking books with you." Rory admitted, blushing as soon as she finished the sentence.

"Yeah, me too." He nodded, shrugging.

"You work with books all the time. How can you not have anyone to talk to?"

"I was focusing more on the 'with you' part of that sentence." He acknowledged, smirking as he sipped from his glass again. "I don't know any other Rand fans."

"I wouldn't think that would be a bad thing for you."

"I don't know, being able to stand forty page monologues without hurling the book at a wall is still an impressive trait."

"She's not that bad, Jess." She smiled, stepping closer to him. "You really should…"

"Give her another chance? Somehow I feel like we've had this conversation before."

"Hey, I've changed my mind on Hemingway, nothing is impossible."

"How did that happen?"

"I did _The Sun also Rises _in college. You should have made me read that instead of _For whom the Bell Tolls_."

"I'll keep that in mind in the future, in case I ever try to convince anyone else to give him a try." He smirked, moving a bit more towards her and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, without thinking about it. Reacting at the contact, she finished her drink in one gulp, looking for some courage.

"You know, you never did tell me if you have a girlfriend."

"You didn't ask."

"Oh, come on, I gave you the perfect opportunity to say something." She smiled, teeth biting her lip as he inched even closer to her. "I mean, you RSVPed for one to the wedding and everything but…"

"You think if I was dating anyone, I'd bring her to that town? Under these circumstances?"

"I…uh…probably not." Rory laughed, shaking her head. "So I should take the hypothetical at the beginning of that as…?"

"There are no random people around at the moment." He confirmed, trying to find a place for his glass on the desk next to them. "Do you have any new or old jerks attached? And by that I do mean dating, seeing, sleeping with or whatever else kids are calling it these days, since I feel like I need to spell it out to you to prevent any misunderstanding. I heard the blonde dick's no longer an issue, but I of all people should really know of your penchant for exes."

"No jerks." She giggled again, twisting her hand and dropping the glass on the shelf behind her, hoping it wouldn't fall.

"You sure?"

"Yes. No one." She confirmed again, trying to stop herself from laughing.

"Ok." Jess nodded, the faint memory of him saying the same word late one night many years before echoing through both their heads at the same time.

"So…what now?"

"This." He smiled as he closed the gap between them, his mouth covering hers as both his hands cupped her face. Wrapping his arms around his waist, she smiled through the kiss, moving her body closer, taking in as much of him as she could.

"Nice to know that part still works." Jess whispered when he pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.

"Yeah, we were always good with that." She placed another kiss on his lips, smiling. "The rest though?"

"Not so much." He acknowledged, not opening his eyes. "This it the point where you run away, isn't it?"

"You're bitter."

"We've been here before."

"One too many times." Rory shrugged before kissing him again, sneaking her hand under his shirt and running her fingers across his skin. "I'm wearing heels, I couldn't run even if I wanted to." She placed a playful kiss on his lips, trying to get a smile out of him. "And I don't want to."

"Ok." He smirked before pressing her back against the bookshelf, his fingers playing in her hair.

"This part's new." Rory whispered as she tried to catch her breath when he pulled away, making him laugh. "I like it."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." She grinned back, pulling his lip between her teeth as his hands slipped under her shirt.


	4. After four I'm under the host

**A/N: Aw, and it's done. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for the reviews(and, while I'm not promising anything, I'm seriously considering doing a one-shot sequel to it, but slightly more on the M side of the things ;).). Thank you again.**

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* * *

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**After four I'm under the host**

"I don't care what you think I said!" Chris pointed out, his arms crossed over his chest. "You're not getting out of it by arguing semantics."

"Hooking up and spending the night are not the same things. Jess, clear things up. You slept on the couch, we need verification."

"No." He grumbled, shaking his head. "It's none of your business."

"It's twenty dollars."

"I don't care." He shook his head, seeing Rory stand in the doorway, biting her lip, her hand holding her wet hair. "Can you give us some time alone?"

Nodding, both Matthew and Chris smiled as they walked past her, waving before heading down the stairs.

"You'd make a good Hellboy." Jess smirked, trying to get her to relax. "Food should be done in a couple of minutes."

"Ok." She whispered, biting her lip. "I got to the good parts."

"Huh. And?"

"Still good." She shrugged, smiling.

"No punched in the gut, what the hell did I do feeling?"

"No." Rory shook her head, laughing as he flipped the eggs in the pan, his eyes not leaving her. "You?"

"No."

"Because we stopped just in time?"

"Because I have no reason to regret anything. Maybe stopping, that's about it." He smirked, picking up the pan and dropping the scrambled eggs in the two plates. "Lunch."

"We'll…"

"Finish this after we've had some food." He nodded, filling the mugs again with coffee before placing them on the table.

* * *

The night before.

"Jess…" She whispered, moaning as his mouth found her neck, running her fingers over his bare back. "Should we stop?"

"No." He smirked, kissing her collarbone. "Can't say I like that idea."

"Me either."

"So why'd you suggest it?"

"Because we're us and we've been through all our shit and now we're just going to have a drunken one night hook up? Which, as an aside, I think it's what kids are calling it these days."

"I think you're a few years too late for that term."

"Seriously? You're going to be pedantic when you're half naked and have a girl straddling you?"

"You started it. Lose some clothes and I promise I'll stop." Jess smirked, pulling her shirt halfway up her torso. "You're in town for a week, we can do this more than once. That takes care of the one night only aspect." He shrugged, moving his hands up slightly but she slapped them down.

"I think we should talk."

"I think talking is the last thing I want to do."

"Jess…" She smiled, kissing him softly. "Please."

"I clearly need to get better at this if you're still able to think." He motioned with his head to the side and Rory moved off, crashing on the pillow next to him as he slid on the bed as well, staring at the ceiling.

"I just…don't want it to be like this." She mumbled after a long pause, turning her head to look at him. "You, me. All of it."

"Why?"

"Because…I don't know. It's us. I've thought about this happening for so long." Her eyes fixed on his, she squeezed his hand, smiling. "And tonight we've had too much to drink and I doubt either one of us is thinking clearly and it's just…doesn't feel right."

"Ror, I'm still going to be here tomorrow morning."

"It's your house, of course you are."

"You know what I mean." He smirked, shrugging one shoulder. "You've done your fair share of running. I get to be just as scared that you'll not be here again."

"I don't want to leave." She bit her lip.

"Then stay."

"Is it that easy?"

"Yes." Jess stated, pushing a strand of hair away from her face with his free hand. "It is."

"How can you be sure?"

"You're here, I'm here, we both want to be here and, for once, there's no one else to fuck things up. It's been a really long time since that's happened."

"How about your Shakespeare random person?" She laughed, making him smirk.

"I'd probably have to struggle to remember her name."

"Flaubert one?"

"Oh, no, I know _her _name."

"Jerk." Rory laughed, rolling closer to him and kissing him quickly. "No one else that matters?"

"Just you." He cupped her face in his hand. "You? Because I'm not really fond of the idea of being your rebound."

"Just you." She echoed his statement, smiling.

"Settled then."

"Good." She nestled herself on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close.

"I do have one more question."

"Yes?"

"If you've been thinking about this for so long, why are we still waiting?" Jess laughed, kissing the top of her head.

"I've thought what Johnny Depp would be like as well, that doesn't mean I'd just jump in bed with him either."

"Johnny Depp? Seriously? Could you have found anyone more mainstream?"

"Get over it."

"To be fair, you already did the jumping in bed with me part. It's the rest we're failing at."

"It's your fault for giving me too much to drink."

"I always thought that was more of a guy problem."

"Could you be any cruder?"

"Probably. Do you want me to try?"

"No." Rory laughed, placing a kiss on his chest. "Are you ok with stopping tonight?" She asked, hesitant and Jess nodded, tilting her head up with his hand and placing a small kiss on her lips.

"What kind of a jerk do you think I am that I'd seriously push you to sleep with me after you've said no?"

"Jess, not like that." She shook her head, kissing him passionately. "I was just wondering if you think it's the best call to make?"

"I…don't know. Probably."

"Did you ever think about me…like this?" Rory asked again after a few seconds, smiling.

"Never. Teenage boys are paradigms of virtue, everyone knows that."

"I meant after high school. I'd be a little insulted if you'd never wanted to back then."

"Huh. Here I figured even thinking it would have gotten me castrated."

"By mom, not me. I wanted to…you know."

"I wasn't really going to fight you off."

"It was complicated."

"Yeah, I know. I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty." He shrugged, kissing her forehead. "Thinking about you like this though? Maybe. Sometimes." Flipping them over suddenly, he pinned her hands down with his, his tongue darting out and licking a small patch of skin. "Always curious if you'd taste as good as you felt." Pulling his body up as quickly as the first time, he moved to her side, running his index finger down her cheek. "And just how much you'd blush."

Feeling her cheeks get even redder, she buried her face in his chest, making him smirk again.

"I wasn't far off." Sliding down on the bed, he kissed her, his hand tangled in her hair. "We should get some sleep. We'll figure this out in the morning."

"You won't change your mind by tomorrow?"

"No. You?"

"No."

"Ok." She smiled, biting her lip before kissing him.

"I'm gonna be on the couch." Jess looked at the door, getting ready to get out of bed, but she grabbed his arm.

"We can share the bed."

"You're seriously overestimating my restraint."

"Oh…" She blushed again. "I should at least be the one that takes the couch then. Or go to the hotel and come back when I wake up or something."

"First thing - there is no way in hell I'm letting you leave at almost 3 AM. And second, there are two other guys that live in this apartment and, if I know them well enough, they've probably made bets on whether you stayed the night. I don't even want to think how that would end."

"You sure?"

"Sleep well." He smiled, nodding.

"Good night." She kissed him one more time before he got out of bed, pulling the blankets higher up her body. Shaking his head as he opened the door, he muttered a 'damn', making her laugh again.

* * *

"So…" Rory pushed away her empty plate a while later, smiling at him as her fingers played with the coffee cup.

"So…what?"

"We're figuring things out now, aren't we?"

"The way I see it, we have two choices: we can either have something resembling a long overdue real date or we skip dinner and go to fucking each out brains out."

"Our only choices then?" Rory asked, amused and trying not to blush at the same time.

"If last night proved anything is that it's inevitable, really."

"Oh, ok, if it's inevitable." She laughed, making a face at him.

"What, you have any other options?" Jess smirked, moving towards her slightly, his fingers brushing against a crease in the denim covering her legs.

"We could always just forget anything happened."

"And then run into each other at the wedding, proceed to sleep together because you can't resist me, watch everyone trying to figure it out when you come out of my room in the morning. Followed by me trying to escape getting killed by Lorelai."

"You seem to be very smugly confident that I have no chance at keeping my hands off you."

"Right, 'cause you were clearly interested in looking at my _books_ last night." Taking a deep breath, he shrugged, serious for a moment. "Did you change your mind?"

"No." Rory reassured him, running her fingers through his hair. "I was just wondering about the logistics."

"I think there's a copy of the _Kama Sutra_ somewhere around, you could…"

"So not what I meant!" She blushed, smacking his arm. "I don't want to have a week long fling with you and then forget all about it."

"And again you imply that I'm that forgettable. Rory, you're crushing my ego here."

"Can you be serious for five minutes or is that too much to ask?"

"Probably too much." He laughed, cupping her face in one hand and running his thumb over her cheekbone slowly. "Try waving a cookie or something in front of me, it might help me focus."

"How about I point out that the sooner we figure this out, the sooner the ripping each other's clothes off part can restart?"

"Ok, that definitely works." He smirked, his hand playing in her hair. "But if you assumed I have any answers, you were wrong."

"I'm not looking for answers. Just…reassurance you want more than sex."

"You think with all our baggage you'd be the person I'd go to if I only wanted to get laid?"

"Probably not." She smiled, placing a small kiss on his palm. "So…we'll keep talking after I leave?"

"I'm guessing you mean that in a more than phone sex sort of way, right?"

"You're a genius."

"Of course we'll keep talking." Jess smiled, nodding. "We have to eventually stumble onto a a way to have a real relationship."

"I could get a job in Philadelphia after I'm done with the campaign trail."

"If that's what you want, sure."

"I want to give us a fair chance. It's probably about time." She kissed his hand again.

"Ok." He nodded again, leaning in closer to her. "Are we all settled on this then?"

"Yes."

"So…what are you doing tonight?" He smirked before placing a soft kiss on her lips, as she tried to stop herself from laughing.

"I think you mentioned a real date earlier, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Pick me up at seven then." She shrugged, kissing him. "I'd say there's a very good chance of both of us getting lucky."


End file.
